


Passing Time

by furchte_die_schildkrote



Category: Chaos Walking - Patrick Ness
Genre: F/M, Fade to Black
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2013-10-06
Packaged: 2017-12-28 13:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/furchte_die_schildkrote/pseuds/furchte_die_schildkrote
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is not much to do, shut up for months on a cramped scout ship with only a co-pilot for company, but Bradley and Simone manage to pass the time somehow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Passing Time

**Author's Note:**

> From this prompt meme: http://corinne-the-healer.tumblr.com/post/62170770854/send-me-a-word-and-a-character-series-pairing-and-i
> 
> Based off of the word "gymnophoria" - the sensation that someone is mentally undressing you.

Shut up inside a scout ship about fifteen steps long and ten steps wide for months with only your co-pilot for company, there isn’t much to do. Bradley and Simone fight off boredom with the few weapons they have. They play card games. They hold idle chats and philosophical debates. They collecting data about the slowly approaching planet. They form a very purposeful silence around the likely fate of the Eade scout ship. They run through the exercise routines specifically designed for such cramps conditions. 

Most of the time, they just look. At books, at the walls, at the void of space, which is someone nothing and a pretty big chunk of everything at the same time. At the moment, they’re looking out the main cockpit window, at the New World that ate up, Bradley from one of the co-pilot seats and Simone from the back of the ship, lounging in her cot.

Bradley stands and stretches upwards, just barely tall enough to reach, grabbing some gadget from the overhead. As he groped around for the something, he extended even further, the curve of his back clearly visible through his tight undershirt. Simone noticed. She noticed how the muscles in his back connected to those in his shoulders and then to his arms with an almost contradictory angular smoothness. She noticed how maybe “slender” was a better fit for him than “scrawny”. She noticed how the curve at the small of his back was absolutely captivating, how she was begging for his shirt to lift slightly and show for just a second--

And then Bradley turned around, reader in hand. Simone averted her eyes as quickly as she could, though Bradley seemed to have noticed the slight movement, and had a slight shift in posture--carrying himself more consciously. He returned to his co-pilot seat, carefully propping his feet on the control panel so as to avoid accidentally hitting any of the buttons, and turned on his reader. After a few minutes, he began to notice Simone’s shifting towards him and then away, and found that his own gaze was beginning to do the same towards her. 

Bradley hesitated for a moment, and then reclined a bit in his chair, stretching his legs out even further. Simone smirked. Bradley smiled, with an awkward combination of embarrassment and forced confidence. Simone chuckled, breaking the silence for a brief second. 

And then silence fell again, bringing with it a certain consciousness. A sense of waiting filled the ship as Bradley and Simone became more aware of the game they were playing. They looked at one another, eyes meeting, their cat-and-mouse game of stolen glances over. 

Simone shifted slightly in her cot and gave a nervously hopeful look towards Bradley. 

Bradley nodded, smiling shyly. “You sure?”

Simone jerked her head, gesturing for him to come over. She began shifting to a more comfortable position on the cot as Bradley hurried over.

There is not much to do, shut up for months on a cramped scout ship with only a co-pilot for company, but Bradley and Simone manage to pass the time somehow.


End file.
